UK Convicts 2 Iranian Men for Spying on Tehran Critics

3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Nov 12

Woolwich Crown Court convicted Mostafa Sepahvand, 41, and Farhad Javadi Manesh, 46, of conduct likely to assist a foreign intelligence service after they surveilled journalists and other Tehran critics in Britain.
Prosecutors said the operation ran from August 2024 to March 2025 and included visits to targets' locations, photographs, videos and online research; Sepahvand was also convicted of preparing serious violence against a person in Britain.
The targets included staff at London-based Iran International and a figure linked to UK Lawyers for Israel; Manesh was acquitted on the violence-preparation charge and a third defendant was cleared entirely.
British authorities called them the first convictions of Iranian nationals under the 2023 National Security Act, while Iran denied involvement.
The verdicts land amid wider scrutiny of alleged Iranian activity abroad, including U.S. terrorism charges announced Nov. 10, a French claim that IRGC-linked hackers hit about 700 food retail sites, and G7 concern over plots in member states.